The present invention relates generally to a foam dispensing system, and more particularly to an automated monitoring and diagnostic system for use with foam dispensing systems that permits remote control of the dispensing of foam.
Many foam-dispensing systems are known in the art and are used in different industries. These systems are used to dispense two component polyurethane foams in various applications. Such foams are made from two reactive foam components that are mixed together to form an expansive foam. This foam has many different uses. It may be used to provide thermal insulation to apparatus, such as whirlpool or spa tubs, or it may be used to provide sound and/or thermal insulation to electronic and mechanical devices, or it can be used to provide packing cushions for the shipping of products.
Taking the packing cushion industry as an example, many foam injection systems are known in which a hand-held dispensing gun, or unit, is connected to remote supplies of the two foam components by a pair of hoses. This hand-held dispensing unit may be fed from a local storage supply of the two foam components by way of a pair of pumps, each of which propel foam components through their respective hoses to the dispenser. Alternatively, the dispenser may be connected to bulk supply sources of these components by lengthy pipes or tubes. A manufacturing facility may utilize multiple foam dispensing stations, each with their own dispenser. It is difficult to monitor the pumps, supply sources, and foam component ratios and pressures at all of these multiple locations. In order to determine if each station is operating at its peak efficiency, an operator must examine these parameters for each dispensing station. Where dispensing stations are fed by separate supply sources, the supply of foam components cannot be monitored on a real time basis, but rather each supply source must be monitored and compared to the other supply sources. This requires an excessive amount of time and effort on the part of the system operator(s).
Other operational parameters that need to be monitored in the foam dispensing industry relate to maintenance and trouble-shooting of the dispensing systems. Mechanical wear on the dispensing system components include the wear and tear on the foam component pumps and the dispensing nozzles. In the current state of operation, a plant operator has to examine each and every dispensing station and its associated components. Accordingly, technicians must be dispatched to foam dispensing plant sites, which is both time consuming and expensive.
Some automated systems for monitoring dispensing apparatus are known and utilize multiple monitors. As the operator dispenses the foam components, monitors associated with the foam component supplies may provide an indication as to various parameters of the foam components such as temperature, pressure, and volume. The operators may read these parameters and adjust them, if necessary. In instances such as this, the operator must leave his dispensing station and walk over to a controller of the system to make the necessary adjustments. An example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,761, issued Feb. 14, 1995.
Other automated systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,698, issued Feb. 9, 1999, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,643, issued Mar. 4, 1997. In the latter of these two patents, a system is described for managing multiple dispensing units that are bins that contain a preselected number and level of objects. The bins each have a level sensor that is coupled to a controller so as to inform a system operator of a low condition of objects in the bin. Although in this system, multiple bins are linked together by a network of sensors, no provision is made for diagnostic measures or any other operational system parameters that are returned as data to the central controller of the network for analysis and adjustment. The bin-dispensing nature of this system does not include aspects of wear and flow passage buildup, or even temperature, all of which are factors that influence and effect the dispensing of expandable foams.
One system currently known in the field of foam dispensing involves the use of various components manufactured by the Gusmer Company of Lakewood, N.J. Gusmer manufactures chemical component spray guns that may be used in association with its Model VH-300 High Pressure Metering Unit. This unit is very large and contains a pair of chemical component pumps that are mounted in the unit and controllable from an operation console of the unit. Heaters are supplied with supply hoses and are controllable from the console to maintain the temperatures of the chemical components. The time of the chemical dispensing may be measured by timers that interface with the unit and gun. Although this unit is mounted on wheels and thus is movable, it is not equipped with the necessary electronics to permit remote monitoring of the system operating parameters. No means are provided to interconnect the unit with other such units, nor are any means provided by which the data from many such units can be collected and analyzed to optimize the dispensing of foam.
Another system made by Cannon Afros USA of Cranberry Township, Pa. and is known as their xe2x80x9cA-Systemxe2x80x9d. This system is hard mounted to a factory floor and incorporates in it, a bulky support structure that supports a pair of chemical component supply tanks with self-contained agitator motors that output to supply pumps driven by a single motor. Hoses deliver the chemical components to a dispensing gun. This system utilizes a controller that controls the process parameters of the foam dispensing system during operation.
These aforementioned systems measure some parameters, but are disadvantageous because they suffer from a lack of important and total information exchange and are extremely limited in the data that they collect. Such systems are mostly dedicated only to monitoring the supply and flow of the foam components.
The present invention, therefore, is directed to a system that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a control and diagnostic system for use with the foam dispensing industry in which the system links together individual foam dispensing systems with a computer network and a controller.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated control system for use in a foam dispensing operation that interconnects and exchanges data among a plurality of stations used in a foam dispensing process, and a controller so as to permit the exchange of information about operational parameters of the foam dispensing operation among the stations and a controller.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a control and diagnostic system for use in the foam-dispensing field, wherein two-components foams are dispensed from dispensers at various foam dispensing stations, the system tying together, from an information exchange aspect, individual foam dispensing stations, foam component dispensed from the total supply, foam component delivery stations, and other related stations so that the pressure and temperature of the foam components may also be monitored at a remote location and controlled from a remote console.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for monitoring the status of various foam component stations associated with a foam dispensing operation, the system including a plurality of sensors disposed at various stations in the foam dispensing operation, the sensors being interconnected with a central controller by way of data communication links, the sensors reading status of the stations and relaying the status of the stations to the central controller.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a control and diagnostic system for a foam dispensing operation utilizing a plurality of sensors disposed at individual stations of the foam dispensing operation, the sensors being interconnected to a controller by a plurality of data communication links, the sensors being capable of relaying data concerning the status of the stations to the controller, the sensors being operatively connected to control circuits of their associated stations, the system further including a diagnostic network operatively connected to the stations and accessible by a master controller of the system located remotely from the foam dispensing operation, the network including a telephone, fiber optic line, or the like over which information from the sensors may be transmitted to the remote master controller, whereby the system master controller may gather data from the sensors, analyze the gathered data, and adjust operational parameters at one or more of the system stations.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of sensors operatively associated with each system component, the sensors operatively interconnected to each other and to a master controller, each of the sensors containing means for monitoring operational parameters of the system, the master controller being interconnected to a data exchange gateway, whereby system parameters and information collected by the master controller may be monitored from a remote location, the remote location permitting a system operator to access system information from off-site.
The above objects and advantages are accomplished by the structure of the present invention. In one principal aspect of the present invention and as exemplified by a first embodiment thereof, a control console is provided that is interconnected with a foam dispenser, the A and B foam component pumps, a power source and controller and a gateway. The interconnection among these components is preferably a high-speed data link that is capable of virtually instantaneous signal transmission to the console and back. The console preferably includes a plurality of individual control circuits, typically disposed within one or more integrated circuits (xe2x80x9cICxe2x80x9d) such that individual circuits are dedicated to the exchange of data and information among the individual foam dispensing system components and the system controller or console. The console may instead, or additionally, include software to perform some or all of the data exchange functions.
The control circuits and/or software are preferably disposed within modules that are mounted to various components of the system, such as, for example, the dispensing unit(s), the pumps supplying the dispensing unit(s), and the supply sources of foam components for the dispensing unit(s). The modules may include one or more sensors that monitor and record operational parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, etc. The sensors are interconnected with each other, and each of the circuits is operatively connected to the controller so as to define a plurality of individual monitoring circuits that relay data to and from the console of the system. Each circuit may be considered as a slave circuit that is dominated by and obedient to a master circuit. That is, for example, a slave circuit will make requests of a master circuit, which will in turn control when and if a response is given to the slave circuit. The effect of such a control relationship will be further examined with respect to FIGS. 10-14. The master circuit may be resident in the control console and connected to a gateway to an exterior source of communication so that the entire system may be remotely monitored, even while the console is in use.
By using individual sensor modules in association with individual system components, the system of the invention may be used on automated dispensing systems as well as hand held dispensing systems where previously it has been impractical to monitor the operation of the dispensing unit. Flow rates and chemical usage may be monitored as well as the quantity of foam used for each shot of the gun. In this manner, system operators may use the system to determine which operators on an assembly line are efficient foam-using operators. The system may also be used to monitor the total quantity of chemical foam components through the system and give the system operator an indication as to potential maintenance issues before they rise to a level of criticality that necessitates a system shutdown.
In yet another principal aspect of the present invention, the system incorporates a wide-area network (xe2x80x9cWANxe2x80x9d) and multiple local-area networks (xe2x80x9cLANxe2x80x9d), wherein each of the LANs is dedicated to a single foam-dispensing unit and includes a main console and gateway associated therewith. Each LAN therefore defines a single control xe2x80x9cloopxe2x80x9d of the WAN and then can be used on each individual foam-dispensing station present in a factory or on an assembly line in a plant. All of the LANs are tied together to form the WAN by means of interconnections between their respective gateway modules and the WAN master module so that each LAN in the WAN may be monitored individually from the WAN (and preferably from a remote location). This remote monitoring permits a remote system operator to diagnose problems and/or maintenance aspects of each of the dispensing stations of the system (WAN) or in station (LAN) by itself.
The WAN may include a datastore (not shown) that is partitioned into a plurality of individually addressable (readable and writeable) memories or data storage areas, each of which may correspond to an individual LAN, which in turn is mapped within the entire system (WAN) so that the WAN may display, if desired, the operational status of each foam dispensing station or unit in a factory or plant. Each LAN has its own main console module that manages its associated LAN independent of all of the other LANs that make up the WAN. Thus, the system provides its operator with status information about each dispensing station individually, and as parts of an entire plant or factory.
In yet another principal aspect of the present invention, the system may be utilized with and housed within a single, moveable console that optionally has a wheeled base to permit it to be moved from one location to another. The console includes a cabinet extending up from the base that houses a controller with a plurality of control circuits that interconnect system components that are mounted within the cabinet such as chemical component pumps, and supply tanks. The console has a dispensing gun associated with it and supply hoses that interconnect the dispensing gun to the supply pumps. The controller permits the operational system parameters to be monitored and modified at the console, and a display panel with a plurality of visual displays presents the system parameters in real time. The console operator, and even the gun operator, can view the duration of the foam shots, calculated by way of a timer, as well as the quantity of foam components dispensed with each shot and the amount of foam components remaining in the supply tanks so that the number of remaining shots may be easily determined.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.